March Update

It’s always a toss-up for me whether I should prepare these posts early if I know I’m likely to get busy when they’re due, but I also want them to capture the month, and where I’m at at a particular time. So I prefer to keep them live as much as possible.

This month, the 20th happened to land on a day when it was just me and Mr4 alone for an entire day, followed by an anniversary dinner in the evening (also with Mr4 as we are short on babysitters at the moment), so by the time I had the time to sit at my computer to type anything, I didn’t have the energy. And then the next day was Saturday, so that was much the same. Here I am on a Sunday morning, eating my breakfast in front of my PC while Mr4 watches some Dinosaur Train with his dad.

Anyway, what I wanted to say first up was: Thanks.

I’ve been blessed, I know that. Healer’s Touch has been received well overall. For the past year I’ve had nearly daily positive feedback in one form or another (I know many authors don’t get to say that). Early on it was Amazon reviews and website contact, then Goodreads reviews, ratings, and signups to my newsletter. These things, of course, have slowed, but I still get a warm fuzzy occasionally when someone takes the time to let me know (directly or indirectly) that HT provided them a pleasant experience. A writer could ask for little more.

And so I thank you.

News

Sorry. No writing news again this month.

The turtle does move, though.

Writing Progress

Almost none, I’m afraid. It has been a month, that is certain.

One problem with letting life get ahead of writing is that writing momentum can really take a dive to the point that you forget where you were planning to take things, and notes only get you so far. I have the outline pretty well loosely in mind–the main points, anyway. But I don’t have the steps of how to get there. So, I put my story aside, and now I need to find it again.

However, it will be back to a top priority (amongst many) from now until it’s finished.

Non-writing Progress

I am working on another sketch of Jonas. And, no, I am not going to share just yet. You will have to wait.

I’ve continued to watch the Arrow TV series in my down time, and as a way to spend some time with my husband. I’m enjoying where they’re taking things in season 3. They’re throwing big things at Oli left, right, and centre and he’s got no one he feels he can open up to, so he just takes it all like the typical strong silent type we all love. But, I suspect the show is setting him up to break at some stage. (If they’re not, I’ll be bitterly disappointed). A real person can only take so much, and if Oli is as real as they’ve started to make him seem, then he’s going to break, and I’m looking forward to seeing what becomes of that.

What I’ve Been Reading

Dollywagglers is not my usual read. As you know, I tend to mostly follow the fantasy genre. This one I would consider more literary. It has sci-fi/post-apocalyptic flavours, sure: It’s set in the future after a nasty plague-like virus has wiped out large chunks of the UK’s population (and possibly more of the world, too… probably). There’s no obvious character goals off the bat. We’re introduced to characters and their little idiosyncrasies, and it takes a while before links start to appear between any of them. Of course, there is one link: they’re all living in the UK with the after effects of this plague.
As I mentioned in my Goodreads review the beginning and end of the tale don’t occur within the pages of the book. The plague happened before, and the eventual recovery will come some time later. The book is about how a select few people are affected and how they respond. There are a few commentaries on aspects of contemporary life, too.
I do consider Dollywagglers worth a read by just about anyone.

Now, Half the World is most certainly my usual kind of read. I have little doubt my readers are well aware I’m a fan of Joe Abercrombie‘s work. This time, I really got in behind Thorn and Brand, rooting for each the whole way, and I felt satisfied by the conclusion. This would be amongst my favourites of Abercrombie’s.

After these, I’ve been helping a friend by being an early reader of her book.

2 thoughts on “March Update”

Yeah, not great, sadly. I hit a bit of a roadblock, which I finally think I know how to fix, and other health factors have come into play, which hopefully will only be a short-term negative, and I will discuss more later.